Film Music Classics Vaughan Williams

FILM MUSIC CLASSICS Vaughan Williams Naxos 8.573658 RTE Orchestra conducted by Andrew Penny. 49th Parallel; The Story of a Flemish Farm suite; Coastal Command suite; Three portraits from the England of Elizabeth. This welcome release of a former Marco Polo CD with updated notes is to be welcomed by all lovers of light music, especially the film genre. Unmistakably VW in content those familiar with his nine symphonies will recognise snatches of a later more serious output. The first three films were patriotic wartime offerings while the fourth was a 1955 documentary voiced over by Martin Clunes’s father, Alec, marking the second Elizabethan era by looking back at the first. Excellent stirring music.

Geoff Leonard was born in Bristol. He spent much of his working career in banking but became an independent record producer in the early nineties, specialising in the works of John Barry and British TV theme compilations.

He also wrote liner notes for many soundtrack albums, including those by John Barry, Roy Budd, Ron Grainer, Maurice Jarre and Johnny Harris. He co-wrote two biographies of John Barry in 1998 and 2008, and is currently working on a biography of singer, actor, producer Adam Faith.

He joined the Internet Movie Data-base (www.imdb.com) as a data-manager in 2001 and looked after biographies, composers and the music-department, amongst other tasks. He retired after nine years loyal service in order to continue writing.